One of my relatives is a famous psychiatrist. He travels around his country and gives lectures. Students flock to his lectures and often bring tape recorders. Anyway, the last time I've attended one of his lectures was 10+ years ago, and one thing really stuck with me: "Don't charge your clients too much, because they won't come back. Don't charge them too little either, because they won't take you seriously."
It's telling that the first reply in this thread has a solution to the issue of expensive bulbs burning out ever 6-8 months: it is called taking advantage of the 1-year warranty. This effectively halves the cost of the bulbs from a rather costly $25/bulb to a much more reasonable $13/bulb. I guess $13/bulb is too little to be taken seriously. The OP himself has said that he finds the current bulbs adequate, just lacking in lifespan, and has had bad experiences with LEDs.
Nonetheless, we have the LED evangelicals who seem determined to push LEDs which are 10x more expensive onto us, with pseudo-scientific wall shots "proving" some sort of point. The high price and the fancy marketing speak have persuaded a good number of people to "upgrade" to these LEDs, when in reality, LED bulbs are a work-in-progress at best. $120/pair of LED bulbs sounds like a much more reasonable price than a mere $13/bulb! I guess I should take the more expensive LED bulbs more seriously.
And we have people claiming that projectors control glare, which is patently false. The only good that this claim does is to separate those who last took physics in 1972 from those who know what they're talking about. The SAE testing is in, and has been in for quite a while now. I guess people have more important things to worry about, such as selling LEDs, than reading up on basic SAE testing around here. In sum, 5 of the 9 LEDs tested in a
projector headlamp created excessive glare at multiple federal test points. A projector is no guarantee of glare control. Using the intended light source for the headlamp is a better guarantee of glare control.
And glare isn't the only issue we have with LED retrofit kits. We have, in almost all of the LEDs tested by the SAE, a steep drop-off in light projection distance compared to the original halogen bulbs. So, with the 9 LEDs tested by the SAE, not only do you run the risk of glaring people, but you also run the risk of actually worsening how far you can see at night. A true win-win situation if you ask me: a true Darwinian solution to the issue of people who think LED retrofits are some sort of upgrade
.
But of course, here comes the flood of people who last took physics in 1952 that are going to poo-poo SAE testing. I guess SAE testing is only relevant for motor oils, not other vehicle components
.
If one were really looking to objectively improve their vehicle's lighting, one could consider (all of the below upgrades are actually upgrades backed by scientific evidence, not "I swear to God that it helps, I promise!":
1) Swapping to a purpose-built LED CHMSL (not swapping out the bulb inside, but swapping out the whole assembly for a name-brand, aftermarket unit).
2) Moving the LED CHMSL higher up on the vehicle for better conspicuity. A lot of sedans put their CHMSLs on the shelf behind the rear seats. Moving it up to the roof/glass junction area allows it to be more visible, and more beneficial.
3) Adding side turn signal repeaters. A lot of older cars, especially, don't have anything on the side of the car that indicates that you are making a turn/merge. This is, obviously, quite dangerous, and the literature supports the fact that side turn signal repeaters are beneficial.
4) Performing simple bulb upgrades, such as swapping from 3057 turn signal bulbs to 3457 turn signal bulbs, which are brighter.
But, none of the aforementioned upgrades require you to pull out the Ben Franklins from your wallet. The most expensive upgrade listed costs about $50, max, and that is buying the aftermarket, purpose-built LED CHMSL. I guess none of my upgrades are worth considering, because they don't involve blowing wads of money at stuff that other drivers can clearly see and appreciate, like super white LED bulbs
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Op asked about led's, I answered with my own personal experience. I'm not saying they're better than halogens, they're on par with the 9011's I had. Would I buy them again should they fail? Nope. I'll upgrade to oem hid.
But in typical BITOG style, it's new therefore should be shunned, and people who have absolutely no experience with/even owned whatever it is will dismiss it and everyone who's happy with it.
